I purchased a box of "Winchester" ammo from Midway, and found it to be packaged in an S&B carrier. I think this lends a little credibility to the rumor that S&B makes 7.62x54R for Winchester.

This is a five-shot group fired with the Win/S&B ammo. The squares are 1/2-inch.

And another ÝÝÝ , note the Extreme Spread (ES) and Standard Deviation (SD) numbers, not bad.

Now that I have some empty cases and some 303 (0.3105")/174 Gr. FMJ/BT bullets, I can do some reloading.

Sample

S&B Cases

303 FMJ/BT

1

168.1

173.9

2

167.2

174.3

3

166.1

173.7

4

165.4

173.7

5

166.8

173.5

6

167.8

173.9

7

165.2

173.7

8

166.8

173.9

9

165.0

174

10

165.9

173.8

Average

166.43

173.84

S. D.

1.026

0.205

These are the numbers generated by weighing the cases and bullets to be used in the reloads. Note that the cases are a little more consistent and the bullets a little less, compared to the Mil-Surp ammo.

I was surprised to find that neither Speer nor Hogden had any suggested loads for the 7.62x54R, but knew that P.O. Ackley wouldn't let me down. He suggests 44 to 49 Grains of 4895 and a 180 Gr. bullet. So, I loaded up 5 each with 44.0, 45.0 and 45.5 grains of surplus 4895, all with 174 grain Hornady FMJ/BT 303 cal bullets and Federal Gold Metal Match primers.

This is a 3-shot group using 45.7 Gr. of 4895.

And this is a 3-shot group using 45.9 Gr. of 4895. In both cases the velocity was 2350-2400 FPS, about the same as the Mil-Surp and the Win/S&B. I shot loads up to 46.0 Gr. of 4895. in 0.1 Gr. steps with no signs of pressure, so I guess I'll try a little more.

Grains of 4895

Avg. Velocity

Ext Spread

Std. Dev.

Primer

Factory

2413

30

12

?

Factory

2393

56

22

?

Factory

2412

58

28

?

44

2273

61

25

Fed Gold

45

2316

57

21

Fed Gold

45.5

2354

31

13

Fed Gold

45.6

2330

Fed Gold

46

2391

51

27

Fed Gold

46.2

2401

37

21

Fed Gold

46.4

2411

32

17

Fed Gold

46.6

2425

13

16

Fed Gold

46.8

2467

25

13

Fed Gold

47.4

2497

19

13

Fed Gold

47.6

2485

46

23

Fed Gold

47.8

2478

11

5

Fed Gold

15 cases, 5 firings, four reloads

Cases Trimmed to 2.107 (2.131 Before)

48

2518

37

17

Fed Gold

48

2491

10

4

Russian

48.2

2504

44

23

Russian

48.4

2517

23

12

Russian

48.6

2500

37

16

Russian

48.8

2551

58

26

Russian

49

2544

42

25

Russian

49.2

2546

37

19

Russian

Mil-Surp

147 Gr. Bullet

2636

85

29

?

2626

66

28

?

It looks like 47.0 Gr.s might pretty much duplicate the Win/S&B load. I have only 15 cases, so things proceed slowly J .